Buttonhole attachment



July 14, 1959 c. R. THOMAS- I BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 29, 1957 INVENTOR 7 ATTORNEYS- July 14, 1959 C. R. THOMASBUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 29, 1957 INVENTORATTORNEY5 30 J8 a W w M 3 g wm WNW m m W A w 4: 8 WWW; Mm T 5 8 WW fl 70 July 14, 1959 c. R. THOMAS 2,894,467

BUTTONHOLE ATTACHMENT Filed May 29, 1957 i 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 [Ill iMW-

WWW/$ M ATTORNEYS 15 Claims. (Cl. 112-47) 'Ihisjinvention relates ,to. asewing machine attachment and particularly an attachment for making-biuttonholes.

The attachment illustrated is designed for ,use with the .Oxdinaryhousehold sewing machine and to that end may be attached to the presserbar of .thersewinglmachine when the presser foot is removed and .a levercarried .by the device is connected to the needle l bar so that this"lever which actuates the mechanism of the attachmentis (in turnactuated by reciprocation of .the needle-bar.

In an attachment for makingbuttonholes, it is desirable to employ a:cloth-feeding member .or ,foot which will ,move the .cloth in an oblongpath in order thatstitcliing may be effected around. the periphery of.the buttonhole .and at the same timeeifect movemento'f the clothin azigzag path .to effect the individual stitches over the edge of thebuttonhole. In moving the cloth in the .oblong 'paththe feed blade ismoved to and fro 'in a step-bystep movement, and at each rendtof suchmovement the cloth should'be moved from one side .to the other 'in orderto stitch on one side of the buttonhole during. moqve- ;ment in'one'directionand upon .the opposite side ofithe buttonhole during movementin the other direction.

It is also'desirable in attachments of this character to provide foradjustment of the zigzag movement of the feed blade so that theamplitude of these movements .may

,;be varied according to the size .of the buttonhole which is beingmade. Further means should 'be provided for adjustment of the length ofthe buttonhole and for adjustment of the shape .of the buttonhole, thelatter being necessary for the reason that at times it is desired tomake a plain oblong buttonhole and at other times a ibuttonhole ofkeyhole shape or one .enlarged at one end. In former attachments of thischaracter the size and shape ;of the buttonhole have been determined .byproviding a template or toothedrack which serves as the guiding -memberfor the feed blade. 'As the size and shape of the template or rack serveto. determine the size andshape of the buttonhole, a number of suchtemplates or :racks have been provided of different shape and ,sizeswhich may be removably attached to the feed blade so thatonemaybereplaced by another, depending upon from the adjacent end of themain template so that it may be .adjnstedin and out of an operativeposition so as toprovide the necessary guide for .the feed .blade tochangethe shape of one end of the buttonhole. That is to say, .iftheopening in the main template .is of keyhole shape as is presentlyillustrated, the auxiliary template will be of oblong shapeso that whenit is moved to opera- 'tivc position a plain oblong buttonhole willresult, while,

-2 if the .auxiliary template is moved to inoperative position, vabuttonholeotheyholeshape will'beefitected.

Moreover, in the present construction .all of the templates arepermanent partsof the mechanism and are not intended to be removed andreplaced by others. Therefore adjrustment-ofthe length or shapeof thebuttonhole may be readily made .by adjustment of these auxiliarytemplates, which adjustment may be easily effected by the manipulationof turn buttons .or the like.

Thus the-resulting attachment is; one which may the readily-used andadjusted by an inexperienceduser of :a sewing machine without the laborof changing one part 'ior another, and there .are no loose or separatepartsto become lost .or mislaid.

One object of the present invention is to provide anew .and improvedsewing machine attachment for making -.buttonholes.

.A :further object-ofthe invention is to provide anew and improvedbuttonholeattachment for domestic .sewing machines whereby :the shape,of the buttonhole to be made may be varied by a simple manipulation .ofthe .partslofthe device.

Still.another1object of the invention is to provide .an-.-improved1buttonhole attachment for "domestic sewing:machineswhereinthe size-of the buttonhole may beeasily varied.

'.S.till= anet-herrobject .of the invention is "the provision of abuttonhole attachment for. sewing machines wherein the ;size;and shapeof the buttonholeto be made .mayabe .readily varied by the user-withoutthe necessity of replace- ;mentzor interchange ;of?any of the parts ofthe mechanism.

Still another object of the invention is the provision-of sa buttonholeattachment for ordinary household sewing machines wheneinithe size :and'shape of the buttonhole are .determined Fby a :main template andauxiliary-templates,

one of the :latter being associated with one end of the main templateand adjustable with :respect thereto'to ethat shown in Fig- :1;

Fig. 44s a vertical sectional view on line 4-4-of Figig. 5 {is;a.-horizontal sectional *view on line '5-'5 .of

11 Big. .6 is can enlargedtsect-ional' view on line -6-6 of :F g-

Fig. .7 :is .a,'transversezsectional view, somewhat -en-:langed,\on'-line 7--7 of-F-ig. 2;

' I.Fig'.'i8 is -.an enlarged sectional-view of wthe'mechanismvatJ-oneend of :the attachment, the section being in sub- =st-antiall'ythezsame planeasFig. "4, but showingthe parts :in anotherposition;

' "fig. '9 is :a -view similar to Fig. 6 :-but showing thetparts .inthe-position .ofF-ig; :8

Fig. 1.0 is aperspective view of the length --adjustment template;

To illustrate one embodiment of my invention I have 'shown in thedrawings a base plate having supported thereon a U-shaped framestructure comprising a horizontal body portion 11 and upstanding sideflanges or walls 12. The body portion 11 of this frame structure is heldin spaced relation to the base plate 10 by means of the laterallyextending feet 13 which are downwardly ofiset from the plane of the bodyportion and are riveted V to the base plate adjacent their ends, asshown at 14. Between the upstanding side flanges 12 is secured theadaptor 15 by which the device may be secured to the presser bar of thesewing machine.

Between the member 11 and the base plate 10 is slidably mounted the feedblade 16 which, as shown in Fig.

5, extends rearwardly substantially the entire length of the base plate.At its forward end the feed blade is provided with projecting feet 17having downwardly extending ends 18 to which the feeding foot 19 ispivotally se- I the fork arm at 29 and the free end of this pawl isurged into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 26 5 by aspring 30. The fork arm, as is understood, is adapted to be attached tothe needle bar of the sewing machine so that upon reciprocation of theneedle bar the shaft 25 and, therefore, the cam 24 will be rotated in astep-by-step movement, thus oscillating the lever about its pivot 21.

It may here be explained that the feed blade 16 is not only slidablymounted with respect to the base plate 10, but is also pivoted withrespect to this plate. To this end the feed blade is provided with anelongated slot 32 which receives the lower end of a pin 33 having anenlarged shoulder 34 slidably engaged in a slot 35 in the body member 11of the frame. Thus the feed blade may slot 41 in an upwardly extendingflange 42 formed integrally with the base plate 10. The adjusting slide36 is also provided with a slot 43 to receive a portion of the pivotmember 21 (which is secured to the body member 11) so that the slide 36will be properly guided in its 36 as permitted by the slot 41 in theflange 42 will adjust the position of the pivot pin 33 with respect tothe slot 32 in the feed blade and, therefore, will adjust the positionof the pivot about which the feed blade is osj 77. On the lower face ofthe template is provided a rib movements. It will be seen thatadjustment of the slide,

cillated with respect to the cloth-engaging foot 19. This will vary thelateral or zigzag throw of the feeding foot.

The lever 20 extends rearwardly of the pivot 21 and secured to the uppersurface thereof and in spaced relation thereto is a frame member 45. Ashort vertical shaft 46 is rotatably mounted in this member and in therear end of the lever 20 to which shaft is secured a ratchet urges thepawl into engagement with the ratchet wheel.

Also a stop pawl 53 is pivoted at 54 upon-the lever 20 side with aseries of rack teeth 82 which, as shown 7 to the upper plate 59 of thehousing and a spring 86 acting base plate in spaced relation to thelatter. A spring 51 .7

. 4 and also urged into engagement with the ratchet wheel by the spring55. s

It may here be noted that the shaft 46 and ratchet wheel 47, beingcarried by the lever 20, will be oscillated upon step-by-step rotationof the cam 24 and, as the pivot 49 of the pawl 48 is fixed with respectto the base plate, the pawl will effect rotation of the ratchet wheelwhen the lever. is shifted in av counterclockwise direction or towardthe top of the sheet, as shown in Fig. 5: When the lever 20 isoscillated in the oppositedirection or clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5,about its pivot 21, the holding pawl 53 will prevent rotation of theratchet wheel in the opposite direction. A guide lug 20 (Figs; 4 and 8)is secured to the lever 20 and extends below the member 50 to guide thelever in its movements.

Mounted in an elevated position upon posts 57 adjacent the rear end ofthe feed blade 16 is a housing comprising a bottom plate 58 and a topplate 59. These plates arelspaced apart vertically, and between them ismounted the mechanism for effecting proper movements of the feed blade.'Ihis housing is, as shown in Fig. 4, mounted above the member 45, andthe lower and upper plates 58 and 59 are held in spaced relation by sideplates 60 (Fig. 7).

The shaft 46 extends upwardly through, an opening 58 in the lower plate58 and secured upon this'shaft is 'a pinion 61 (Figs. 4 and 8).' Asshown in Fig. 8, this shaft is hollow and is provided with a pin 62which slidably supports thereon a plunger or follower 63 urged upwardlyby a spring 64 which surrounds the pin'62. The pinion 61 cooperates withan adjustable template assembly, and the plunger 63 likewise cooperateswith a guide plate, both to be hereinafter described.

Slidably mounted upon the lower plate 58 of the elevated housing is amain template 65 shown in top plan view in Fig. 12. This template isprovided with internal rack teeth 66, these teeth being arranged in key-'hole form at one end, as shown at 67, but being omitted at the otherend of the template as shown at 68. A laterally projecting arm 69 formedintegrally with the template is provided with an upwardly facing seriesof rack teeth 70. 1

Also the template is provided with a projecting guide finger 71 at oneend adapted to be guided in a recess 72 in the upper surface of thelower plate 58. At its other end this main template is provided with anattaching finger 73 having a recess 74 in its upper surface. This recessis adapted to receive an arm 75 of a U-shaped connecting member 76 (seeFigs. 8 and 14), the connecting member being secured to the template byscrews 78 guided in a groove 79 in the lower plate 58. As shown in Fig.8, the pinion 61 is in mesh with the rack teeth 66 of the template 65. v"j Also slidably mounted between the members 58 and 59 and resting uponthe template 65 is an auxiliary shape-adjusting template member (seeFigs. 8 and 11 designated as a whole by the reference numeral 80. Thistemplate is provided with a substantially semi-circular series of rackteeth 81 which are adapted to be moved relatively to the rack teeth 66to that the rack teeth 81 cover the teeth 67 and convert the end of therack member 65 into plain oblong form instead of keyhole form. Theauxiliary template is provided atone in Fig. 7, stand in vertical spacedrelation to the rack teeth 70 upon the template 65. i

A pinion 83 (Fig. 7) is secured to a horizontalrshaft 84 vrotatablymounted in an L-shaped bracket 85 secured against the turn button 87secured upon this shaft normally maintains the pinion in an outwardinoperative position. The pinion lies between the rack teeth 82 and 70uponthe templates 65 and 80 and is. adapted,

when rotated, to move the templates in .opposite direcvtions. A pin 87:(Fig. 9) secured to'the bracket 85 normally engages the pinion. 83 andprevents accidental rotation thereof. :When-the push button 87 is pushedinwardly against the force of the spring 86, the pinion is freed fromthis pin.

A second auxiliary template 88 is provided (see Figs. 8 and 10), thistemplate carrying a substantially semicircular series of rack teeth 89adapted .to ,cooperate with the left-hand end of the rack teeth 66 andform a curved end portion for the latter. The template 88 is slidablymounted in theelevated housing and rests ';upon the template 65. It isalso provided at one edge with a series of rack teeth 90 and, as showninFigs. -1 and 9, these rack teeth are engaged by those of a pinion .91secured to a vertical shaft 92 rotatably mounted in the lower and upperplates 58 and 59 and urgedupwardly by a spring 93. A turn {button 94 isfixed to the shaft 92 by which it may be rotated and, when this turnbutton is rotated, rotation of the pinion 91 will effect movement of theauxiliary length-adjustmenttemplate-88. This will move the internal rackteeth 89 --rel-atively to the rack teeth 66 of the template 65 '3.11dvary the effective length of the latter.

.of a vpin 91 which is secured to the upper plate 59 of the elevatedframe and engages the teeth of the pinion 91. Depression of the button94 against the action of the spring 93 releases the pinion from this pinand permits rotation thereof.

Secured to the undersurface (of the upper plate 59 of the elevated frameby pins 97 is a guide plate 98 shown in 'Fig. 13. The auxiliary'templates, that is, both the shape-adjusting template 80 andlength-adjusting template 88, are slidably mounted between 'th-isguideplate and the main template 65. This guide plate is provided :on itsundersurface with guiding grooves ,99 in which slide ribs 100 (Fig. 11)on the template '80. Similarly grooves 'or recesses 10.1 are provided inthe plate for ribs 102 (Fig. :8) on the upper surface ofthe template 88.These grooves:101.-are also 'guidinggrooves for the plunger 63carried bythe shaft 46 of the pinion 61 so that as the pinion is rotated and the--template 65 together with the elevated frame and feed :blade is movedlongitudinally, the plunger 63 will follow about the grooves 101.

These grooves are separated by a 1% 103, a portion of which is omittedat the right-hand end of the template 65, as shown at 104, so that theplunger'may travel about the end of this rib and-pass from roneofthegrooves 101 into the other. In order to permit the plunger to crossover the rib at the left-hand endof the guide plate, as shown in Fig.13, the forward .ends of the ribs 102 are beveled on theirundersurfaces, as .shown at 105, so that, when the plunger reaches oneof these bevels'or ramps 105, it will bedepressed into the arcuatepassage 106 provided within the rack teeth 89,.and thus be guided fromone side to the otherof the rack :66. A lug 107 may be provided tomaintain the pin-in the recess 160 during this travel.

At the other end of the template 65 the plunger .63 travels in thecircular shaped end 108 of the grooves 101 through the opening 104.However, when the template 80 is in its inoperative .position and thepinion 61 travels around the keyhole shaped end-67 of the rack 66, meansare provided to insure .that the plunger is pushed outwardly away fromthe rib 103. To this end the member 76 (Fig. 14) is provided with an arm1'09-which extends over the upper plate 59 and guide plate 98 and isprovided with a sector 110 having a"s'lot"'-11-1 to receive- 4 and 6 ofthe drawings, for example, and the auxiliary template is moved to theleft to cover the keyhole end 67 of the rack 65, the member 76 is alsodrawn to the right and is positioned over the rib 103*, thus permittingthe plunger 63 to follow through the opening 104 closely adjacent'theend of the rib 103. However, when these two templates are moved in thereverse direction,

as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the sector is moved to the left over the endof the rib 103, as shown in Fig. '9, so that the plunger and pinion willbe forced outwardly from the rib 103 and compelled to travel around theend of the rack of keyhole shape.

Means are provided for operating the shaft 46 manually when desired. Tothis end an arm is journalle'd upon the shaft 46 below the ratchet wheel47 .and upon this .arm is pivoted at 116 a pawl 117 urged byspring 118into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

The user by manually oscillating the arm 115 may, therefore, rotate theshaft 46 in a step-by-step movement and move the feed blade to anydesired position.

It is believed that the operation of the device will be evident from theforegoing description. It will be noted that all of the usualadjustments desired in an attachment of this type are provided in an,assembled structure and that not only the shape but the length of thebuttonhole to be made may be adjusted without the necessity of detachingand replacing any of the parts.

As previously described, the length of the buttonhole may be adjusted byrotation of the button 94 (Fig. 1 which will move the template 88 (Fig.10) relatively to the template 65 so as to move the rack teeth 89 overthe teeth 66 of the .template 65 toward and from the rounded end portion67 of the latter rack. As the rack teeth'89 determines the left-hand endof .the rack 65, the distance of this member from the right-hand endwill, of course, determine the length of the buttonhole and the template88 is, therefore, the length-adjusting member.

If it is desired to make a buttonhole of keyhole shape, the turn button87 is pushed inwardly to release the pinion 83 from the pin 87 and isthen turned in the right direction to move the template 65 to the leftand the template 80 to the right, thus exposing the end 67 of the rack66. During movement of the rack 66 to the left, the sector 110 will alsobe moved to the left and engage over the right-hand end of the rib 103.If it is desired to make a'buttonhole of plain oblong shape, the turnbutton 87 will be rotated in the opposite direction and the template 65moved to the right and the template 80 to the left so that the rackteeth 81 will be moved over the rack teeth 67, as shown in Fig. 6, andthus arrange the device for a buttonhole of plain oblong shape.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it willbe understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown,but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of theinvention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a buttonhole attachment for sewing machines, a supporting plate, afeed blade mounted thereon for oscillatory and sliding movements, alever pivotally mounted on the plate, a pinion rotatably mounted on saidlever, a template structure carried by the feed blade, said structurecomprising superposed main and auxiliary templates, said main templatehaving an internal rack member of generally oblong shape, said auxiliarytemplate having an internal rack member of arcuate shape,v and disposedadjacent one end of said first rack member, said templates being mountedfor relative movement in a linear path, means for effecting relativemovement of said templates to cause said second rack member to movetoward and from the remote end of said second rack member, said pinionbeing in mesh with the teeth of said rack members, means for rotatingsaid pinion, and means for guiding said pinion around said rack membersto effect movements of the feed blade.

2. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 1 wherein the means for effectingrelative movement of the templates comprises a series of teeth on onetemplate and a manually rotatable pinion engaged with said teeth.

3. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 1 wherein the means for effectingrelative movement of the templates comprises a series of teeth on onetemplate and a rotatable pinion engaged with said teeth, and whereinreleasable means is provided normally holding said pinion againstrotation.

4. In a buttonhole attachment for sewing machines, a supporting plate, afeed blade mounted thereon for oscillatory and sliding movements, alever pivotally mounted on the plate, a pinion rotatably mounted on saidlever, a template structure carried by the feed blade, said structurecomprising superposed main and auxiliary templates, said main templatehaving an internal rack member of generally oblong shape but beingenlarged at one end in keyhole form, said auxiliary template beingprovided with an internal rack member of arcuate shape disposedadjacent, but beyond, the enlarged end of said first-named rack member,said templates being mounted for relative movement in a linear path,means for effecting relative movement of said templates to move saidsecond rack member to a position inwardly of the enlarged end of saidfirst rack member, the pinion being adapted to mesh with the teeth ofsaid rack members, means for rotating said pinion, and means for guidingsaid pinion around said rack members to effect movements of the feedblade.

5. In a buttonhole attachment for sewing machines, a supporting plate, afeed blade mounted thereon for oscillatory and sliding movements, alever pivotally mounted on the plate, a pinion rotatably mounted on saidlever, a

template structure carried by the feed blade, said structure comprisingsuperposed main and auxiliary templates, said main template having aninternal rack member of generally oblong shape but being enlarged at oneend in keyhole form, said auxiliary template being provided with aninternal rack member of arcuate shape disposed adja-.

cent the enlarged end of said first rack member, supporting means inwhich said templates are slidably mounted for movement relatively toeach other in a linear path, means for effecting sliding movements ofthe templates in opposite directions simultaneously, means for rotatingsaid pinion and means for guiding said pinion around said rack membersto effect movements of the feed blade.

6. A buttonhole attachment as in claim 5 wherein the means for effectingslidable movements of the templates I comprises a series of teeth oneach of said templates disposed in spaced relation and a pinion,rotatably mounted onthe template-supporting means, extending between,

and engaged with both of, said series of teeth.

7. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a supportingplate, a feed blade mounted thereon.

member of said main template being generally of oblong 7 iary templatesrelatively to said main template to'cause them to be superposed over theadjacentends of the main template, thelteeth of said pinion beingadapted to mesh with the teeth of said rack members, and means forrotating said pinion and guiding it around said rack members. I 8. Abuttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a supporting plate,a feed blade mounted thereon for oscillatory and sliding movements withrespect thereto, a lever pivotally mounted on said plate, a pinionrotatably mounted on said lever, a supporting structure carried by thefeed blade, a main template slidably carried by said structure, a pairof auxiliary templates slidably mounted in said structure for movementeach in a linear path relatively to the main template, one adjacent eachend of said main template, each of said templates being provided with aninternal rack member, the rack member of said main template beinggenerally of oblong shape, the rack members of said auxiliary templatesbeing of arcuate shape, means for moving each of said auxiliarytemplates relatively to said main template to cause them to besuperposed over the adjacent ends of the main template, the teeth ofsaid pinion being adapted to mesh with the teeth of said rack members,means for rotating said pinion and guiding it around said rack members,the rack member of said main template being of keyhole shape at one end,and said main template and one of the auxiliary templates beinginterconnected to be moved simultaneously in opposite directions tocause the arcuate rack of the auxiliary template to be moved over andbeyond said end of keyhole shape of the rack member of the maintemplate. v

9. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a suppor ngplate, a feed blade connected to the plate for back-and-forth slidingmovements longitudinally thereof and for pivotal movements later-allythereof, means for effecting such movements comprising a supportingframe carried by the feed blade in a position spaced above the same, alever pivoted on the supporting plate, a portion of which extends to apoint between said supporting frame and the feed blade, a pinionrotatably carried by the extending portion of said lever, a maintemplate slidably mounted in said. supporting frame provided with aninternal rack member, an auxiliary template slidably mounted in saidsupporting frame for movement in a linear path relatively to the mainrack member and provided with an internal rack member of arcuate shapeadjacent one end of said first rack member, said pinion being adapted toengage the teeth of said rack members, means for moving one of said rackmembers relatively to the other to effect superposition of saidauxiliary rack member with respect to said main rack member, means forrotating said pinion, and means for guidion is provided with aspring-pressed plunger extending into saidsgroove.

11.'A buttonhole attachment as in claim 9 wherein a guide plate isprovided in said supporting frame having a face thereof disposedadjacent said rack member, said plate having substantially parallelguide grooves therein and a rib separating said grooves, and said pinionis provided with a guide plunger extending into said grooves, andwherein said auxiliary template is provided with means to guide saidplunger over said rib from one groove into the other.

12.'A buttonhole attachment as in claim 9 wherein a guide plate isprovided in saidtsupporting frame having a face thereof disposedadjacent said rack member, said plate having substantially parallelguide grooves therein and a rib separating said grooves, and said pinionis provided with a guide plunger extending into said grooves, andwherein said auxiliary template is provided with means to guide saidplunger over said rib from one groove into the other, said last-namedguide means comprising an inclined ramp adjacent each of said groovesand said plunger being spring-pressed whereby it may ride over saidramps.

13. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a supportingplate, a feed blade connected to the plate for back-and-forth slidingmovements longitudinally thereof and for pivotal movements laterallythereof, means for effecting such movements comprising a supportingframe carried by the feed blade in a position spaced above the same, alever pivoted on the supporting plate, a portion of which extends to apoint between said supporting frame and the feed blade, a pinionrotatably carried by the extending portion of said lever, a maintemplate slidably mounted for linear movement in said supporting frameprovided with an internal rack member, an auxiliary template slidablymounted for linear movement in said supporting frame and provided withan internal rack member of arcuate shape adjacent one end of said firstrack member, said pinion being adapted to engage the teeth of said rackmembers, each of said templates having a series of teeth thereon, theteeth of one series being in spaced relation to those of the other, apinion rotatably mounted on the supporting frame and engaging the teethof both series to move them simultaneously in opposite directions, meansfor rotating said pinion, and means for guiding said pinion around therack members, and the internal rack member of said auxiliary templatebeing of a shape diiferent from that of the rack member at the adjacentend of the main template.

14. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a supportingplate, a feed blade connected to the plate for back-and-forth slidingmovements longitudinally thereof and for pivotal movements laterallythereof, means for elfecting such movements comprising a supportingframe carried by the feed blade in a position spaced above the same, alever pivoted on the supporting plate, a portion of which extends to apoint between said supporting frame and the feed blade, a pinionrotatably carried by the extending portion of said lever, a maintemplate slidably mounted in said supporting frame provided with aninternal rack member, an auxiliary template slidably mounted in saidsupporting frame 10 and provided with an internal rack member of arcuateshape adjacent one end of said first rack member, said pinion beingadapted to engage the teeth of said rack members, each of said templateshaving a series of teeth thereon, the teeth of one series being inspaced relation to those of the other, a pinion rotatably mounted on thesupporting frame and engaging the teeth of both series to move themsimultaneously in opposite directions, means for rotating said pinion,means for guiding said pinion around the rack members, and the internalrack member of said auxiliary template being of a shape different fromthat of the rack member at the adjacent end of the main template, andsaid pinion-guiding means including a plate mounted with one facethereof adjacent the rack members and having parallel guiding grooves insaid face and a plunger carried by the pinion extending into saidgrooves, a rib separating said grooves and having an opening thereinthrough which said plunger passes, and a guide sector carried by themain template and adapted to be moved over said rib adjacent the openingtherein to urge said pinion outwardly away from the rib.

15. A buttonhole attachment for sewing machines comprising a supportingplate, a feed blade connected to the plate for back-and-forth slidingmovements longitudinally thereof, means for efiecting such movementscomprising a lever pivoted on said plate, a pinion rotatably mounted onthe lever, a supporting frame carried by the feed blade in a positionspaced above the same, a pair of templates slidably mounted in saidsupporting frame, one of said templates having an internal rack memberenlarged at one end so as to be of keyhole form, the other of saidtemplates having an internal rack member of arcuate shape, means foreffecting relative movements of said templates to superpose said rackmember of arcuate shape over that of keyhole shape, the pinion beingadapted to engage the teeth of the rack members, a guide plate having aguide slot therein above said rack members, and a partitioning rib insaid slot, and means carried by said first-named template to slidablyembrace the end of, and vary the shape of, the rib adjacent the end ofthe rack member of keyhole form, and means for oscillating said leverand rotating said pinion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,702,515 Almquist Feb. 22, 1955 2,733,674 Almquist Feb. 7, 19562,742,007 Almquist Apr. 17, 1956

